I loved the way Scott Parker played on the ice. Tough, hard-hitting hockey is a definitely fun for the spectators. If I ever run across him in a bar, I’ll be happy to buy him a drink just to say thanks for all the fun. But I can’t help but think that he is wrong in a big way on the Bertuzzi-Moore incident (and not just because of his opionions of Moore).

And Todd, he might have gone overboard, and what’s crazy is, even talking to him after the fact and talking to Moe, Morris and other boys that were in that, that happened, I watched that tape about a hundred times, and just the way Todd hit him, and he actually grabbed him to soften his blow when he went down, and what happened was when Moe landed on him, he actually hit the back of his neck and it actually popped up. You know, just the way Todd was holding him.

But you know, it wasn’t vicious, it was just, it was the heat of the moment. It was one of those things where you, you want to do something, but you don’t know if it’s gonna be big, if it’s gonna be small, or how it’s gonna pan out. But you wanna do something. And Todd, he might not have been right and it might have been a little overboard, but you know, he did something. I mean, at least he responded, at least he tried.

I know he’s marked now. People hate him, and it’s amazing what that can do to a man, too. It can make you feel this small, you know. And he’s not a bad man. He’s a great guy and a good family guy, and he just got marked. It’s one of those things…

I don’t know Bertuzzi, of course, and he might be a hell of a nice guy. I don’t know precisely what his intent was with Scott Moore, either, but I do know that he made a vicious hit from behind that ended a guy’s career and left him with serious physical damage. There’s nothing honorable about the sucker punch from behind.

For what it’s worth.

Read the rest of the interview to find out more about Parker’s tattoos, post-hockey life, charities, and thoughts on the game. The talk about concussions is particularly interesting.